


Of Apple and True Love

by myheartgoesdokidoki



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, F/M, Fluff, Yamanaka Week 2021
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 08:33:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28650591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myheartgoesdokidoki/pseuds/myheartgoesdokidoki
Summary: One day, Princess Ino Yamanaka went out of the castle to the forest, which led her to discover an unconscious young man named Sai.An AU inspired from Snow White, but from the perspective of the Prince who saved Snow White.
Relationships: Sai/Yamanaka Ino
Comments: 1
Kudos: 17





	Of Apple and True Love

**Author's Note:**

> This is for Day 7 of #YamanakaWeek2021

Of Apple and True Love

“My Lady, you can’t go there!” 

Ino looked straight ahead as she heard the pleas from her servant who was now frantically running towards her direction. Her white horse was walking slowly without a care, Ino wondered if she should quickened her pace, Paku was never a fast breed but she could be when Ino needed her to be. This was just one of the ordinary days in the life of Princess Ino Yamanaka, escaping the castle every time she got bored was part of her routine. Her father should have been fine with it by now, but Ino was aware he had always been overprotective of her, so it was better if she did things on her own.

The spring air was crisp and flowers were blooming. It was the best time to pick some of the seeds to bring home, and Ino particularly loved the seeds of wild poppy. The hazy smell and the vivid colors of the flowers perk up any space it occupied. She was confident that her father would not mind if she came in with new additions to the castle garden. Lost in her thoughts, Ino’s body was shaken when Paku suddenly jolted and stopped. Ino stared down at Yukio who was now huffing her breaths as she managed to stop the horse. Ino sighed.

“Tell Dad I’ll be coming back before sunset. I just want to pick some flower seeds in the forest”,

Yukio gawked at the statement. No, not again, Princess Ino’s love of the outdoors always made her job extremely inconvenient. The older woman had to explain everything to King Inoichi and still got scolded for being too lax with his only daughter anyway. But they were raised together and Yukio loved her like a sister too much to not spoil her. Besides, Ino had often given her more free time which she gratefully used for meeting her partner outside of the castle. Maybe, this time it’s okay.

“Please come back before sunset Princess. Your father would not be happy to find his only daughter missing”, 

Ino gave Yukio a visible grin, saying that she won this. It was an expected outcome, she had a feeling that Yukio would end up letting her be. “I will. I’ll bring some mushrooms too for you all if I can find them. Thanks Yukio”, 

———

The sunlight reached its peak but Ino had not found any single wild poppies that she wanted. She had peeked into every stack of grass, stepped alongside a flowing riverbed, and scrutinized every tree, yet she had yet to claim what she wanted. This was unusual. Ino took a deep breath and laid her body on the bark of a pine tree. She took her bottle, then pouring the liquid all over her lips and throat. 

Paku was eating the grass beneath her, clearly undisturbed with her master’s growing frustration over the lack of poppy flowers. Ino let out a soft growl. What do I do if I cannot find anything? Father might accuse me of going out with some boys, ugh. I wish he had not been so smothering. Since the death of the Queen, King Inoichi had been endlessly restless, feeling paranoid that a similar fate could also happen to his daughter. Ino, being the bold woman that she was, clearly objected to her father’s approach in raising her. She loved her father but that did not stop her from doing things that she liked. Besides, most of the servants in the castle, with the exception of Yukio, annoyed her to no end with their whispers of “the Unladylike Princess Ino”, due to her daring extraversion that contrasted with most Princesses’ gentle demeanor.

Even with all the inconveniences, Ino was aware her life was not all that bad. She liked the power that came with her position as a Princess, she fondly cherished the time when she managed to increase the wage of women who worked to tailor the castle’s dresses. She also had set up a school for orphans that was completely funded by the castle. She even went to take medical trainings. That still did not stop her from being gossiped by everyone else though, she was constantly being chided to be unsuitable for the throne with her occasional burst of anger. No one cared if her rage was utilized to stand up for justice. Ino closed her eyes, feeling the soft tickle of spring air coursing on her skin, the smell of greenery filling her nose. At least, these plants never judged her.

Paku formed a screeching sound which startled Ino from her daydream. She swiftly approached her horse, not caring about how messy her ponytail looked now after she laid down on the tree.

“Good boy, let’s continue”, Ino patted Paku’s spine before she hopped on the saddle. 

They continued their journey to the deeper, darker parts of the forest where sunlight started to disappear. In here, the trees were bigger and casting shadows all over the space. The sound of monkeys could be heard faintly, squirrels were running around the trees. Legends said that this forest connected to a foreign nation, but Ino never ventured off that far to find out. She once overheard her father saying that it would take three days to travel to the other side, during his discussion with some military officials about another kingdom that was now in civil war because they lost their prince.

Without warning, Paku suddenly raised his front feet up in the air, prompting Ino to almost lose her balance. 

“Paku, calm down!” Ino shouted.

Good thing she had a firm grasp on her saddle and her body-nerves coordination was decent. In a flash, she realized what her horse was spooked out about. There was a circle of... people? Humanoid creatures? who seemed to pray on something. They seemed like humans, but their size was smaller than a usual human, probably dwarfs. There was one with purple long hair and another with yellow hair. It surprised Ino to see dwarfs in the midday like this, they were known to be shy beings and none of them lived with human society. Ino decided to take a closer look and went down from her horse, gently nudging Paku to come with her using the leash. 

“Oh, sorry—“ Ino said when the long-haired dwarf bulged her eyes towards her. She composed herself. “I’m not gonna harm you, what’s happening here?” That was just a small talk opener, she could see what was happening, there was an open coffin with the body of a pale man who looked asleep. He was laid down, wild red poppy flowers surrounding his body that was dressed in blue.

“Hinata, it’s okay”, said the yellow-haired dwarf, patting the back of the purple-haired one who seemed to be his mate. Ino noted that he was surprisingly friendly compared to usual dwarfs. “He fell unconscious so suddenly. We are waiting to see if he will be awake, but if not, then we will bury him this evening”, 

“I’m so sorry for you”, said Ino sympathetically, her gaze maintained itself at the pale man lying motionlessly. “What caused this?”

“Naruto, tell her”, whispered the purple-haired dwarf, Hinata. She latched onto her mate like her life depended on him, Ino noticed. Dwarfs are known to be loyal creatures so it did not surprise her. The yellow-haired dwarf, Naruto, nodded his head.

“He ate a poisoned apple. And according to legends, he needed a true love’s kiss to wake up”, Naruto explained. “We have tried everything, except kissing”.

“Of course you don’t”, said Ino as she rolled her eyes.

Hinata whispered something again to Naruto’s ears, which seemed to perk up the blond dwarf. 

“Would you kiss him for us?”

Ino blinked her eyes. “What?” He must be kidding.

Naruto nodded enthusiastically. He was absolutely serious. “Would you kiss our friend for us?”

Ino’s brows furrowed slightly. “That sounds stupid. What makes you think a total stranger like me could be his true love?” She liked fairytales, the imagination from them gave her a beautiful escape from reality. But actually following what a fairytale wanted you to do? That is a whole weirdness on another level.

The yellow-haired dwarf crinkled his mouth. “Ugh. You make it so complicated, we just want to save our friend. What’s wrong in trying anyway?”

Everything, Ino wanted to scream. Why would she kiss a man who was likely to be dead? That sounds necrophiliac and Ino was sure she was not into that. She was not into somnophilia either. The thought of it grossed her out. This dwarf was really out of his mind to think she would be okay with it. She settled for an assertive refusal instead.

“No, I don’t want to. It's wrong”, Ino emphasized. 

“Awhh come on, lady. It is just one kiss”, Naruto responded with a disappointed grunt. “We can always wait for another person but no one lives here”.

“Don’t you think your friend will be upset if he knows he gets a kiss from a stranger?”. Ino tried to throw the important inquiry.

“I can assure you my friend would rather live than left dead”, said Naruto annoyedly.

“He would be thankful if you could save his life”. Hinata finally spoke. “Even if you are not the one, we can always try”.

“Although I hope you are, so we don’t have to bury him”, said Naruto, his tone was depressing. 

In the moment, Ino felt that she wanted to give him a lecture of how wrong it was to kiss someone without them knowing about it and no amount of fairytale could change that. She liked helping people, but this was not something she was sure she wanted to do.

“Maybe you want to take a look, we are not familiar with how human body works”, Hinata said gently. “He might still be alive”, 

The purple haired dwarf was notably calmer than her mate which Ino respected. And after some consideration at their desperate faces, Ino relented. 

“Fine, let me see him”,

She tied Paku’s leash to the nearest tree, before following Naruto and Hinata to see the man closer. When Ino saw him, she gasped. Even with his closed eyelids, Ino thought that he was the most beautiful man she had ever seen. His pale skin was smooth, his lips were perfect shape, his jaw was sharp, and his hair was the color of the midnight. The wild poppy flowers surrounding his body only enhanced his features even more, like a flushed skin. Suddenly, she had an urge to touch his skin, and she did— his skin was strangely warm, not too warm in a way that Ino knew he was just sleeping, but warm enough to let her know his blood was still flowing and it was not a mere exposure from the sun.

“Did he do or eat anything weird before he is like this?” inquired Ino to the dwarves, her hand was still on the man’s cheek.

Naruto cocked his head. “Umm, we only saw him eating an apple before he fell, that’s all”,

Apple and falling, either he was poisoned or he was unconscious from the impact of the ground. Ino swept her hand to the back of his head, feeling the smoothness of his silky black hair wrapping her hand. She could not detect any bruise, she concluded that his unconsciousness was mostly caused by the poisoned apple. She then moved her hand to his throat, her guess proved to be correct, something was there.

Trembling, Ino tried to balance her body to find the right position. In her mind, it was still so wrong, but did she have a choice? She put her hands on his chest for support, then leaned her head closer to his. She then put her one foot near the casket, and her other foot the ground. As her lips almost touched his, she suddenly lost her balance, Ino let go from him and fell to the ground, then coughing out the grass in her mouth. 

She was not the only one coughing.

Ino wanted to pinch herself in a newfound realization. The man was finally awake, by some miraculous reason she was not aware of. Ino looked around and realized a strange object appeared near the coffin. It was a white gemstone with size of a pebble, she guessed it was the "poison" that he accidentally ingested from eating whatever apple that was. The texture looked like an apple indeed, she couldn't believe she managed to take it out from his body with one accident. 

He moved up slowly, rising his body from the coffin and his eyes were fluttering, revealing his dark, onyx eyes. She was the very first thing he saw but it was him who sent heat to her cheeks. His eyes looked entranced, and Ino nervously looked away as the pale man now was getting out of the coffin, words failed her. She could still feel his eyes on her so she stared back at him. She could not read the emotions behind his eyes, but that was not important anymore as Naruto and Hinata suddenly hugged him in front of her. Relief washed over Ino, at least now things are fine.

“Sai, you are awake! I thought you were gone, thank God you’re still alive, don’t leave us again!” Naruto sobbed. Hinata quietly hugged the pale man— apparently named Sai— without saying anything, but Ino could tell from her expression that she was as thrilled as her mate with him waking up.

“What was even happening? Why am I here?” asked Sai confusedly.

“You ate a poisoned apple and fell after that. The lady over here saved your life”, Naruto explained as he pointed at Ino. He deliberately avoided giving him further details, not wanting to spook out his friend. Nonetheless, Naruto’s statement made Sai stare at Ino again and she felt scrutinized by his dark gaze— but she liked it. Then she swore her heart almost burst to flames when he smiled at her.

“Thank you, my lady”, he said softly, his voice was so soft that it felt like feather tickling her ears. Ino was sure his voice could still send her fluttering even if all he said was cursive words. She replied with a coquettish smile.

“You’re welcome, handsome”, the words just blurted out of her mouth before she realized it. Ino quickly put her hand over her mouth as if that could take back what she said. Naruto and Hinata laughed while Sai furrowed his eyebrows, still looking perplexed at everything in front of him.

“Hey Sai, this lady over here is head over heels for you, show your gratitude!” said Naruto teasingly. 

Sai blinked at Ino, which made her feel even more nervous. “Are you?” asked Sai in an innocent tone. Ino wanted to slap out of Naruto, how is she supposed to answer that?! She did not even think she was being that obvious. Hinata and Naruto giggled as Ino struggled to speak. 

“Uh, well, yeah, hahaha” said Ino anxiously. Where is the confident Princess Ino? Why did it disappear with this man around? Argh. Ino cursed herself. She was even more surprised when she felt his body suddenly towering over her then he pulled her closer. She could smell his scent-- like fresh-cut grass and ink, weird but pleasant-- the thought of it was interrupted with the flame rising on her cheeks as Sai kissed her on her lips.

"Thank you, my ladyl", he smiled so innocently, as if it were not something that were normal. 

Ino swore she could almost faint, but she would not let her flustered state beating her usual confident bravado. She mustered her strength to respond him with a bright smile, "It is my pleasure".

She continued. "Where do you want to go after this, Sai?"

Sai did not answer immediately. He sighed, "I have not made plans in advance about it, my lady."

“What if you go with me and we will figure it out together?” asked Ino, offering her hand to take, out of impulse. _Goodness. What did I just do? Don't be so quick to be aggressive!_ She reminded herself. But the plan was halted when Sai took her hand and she could feel warmth radiating from his, Ino felt like she could see the future in him. Oh, to be taking out an apple and meeting the apple of your eyes at the same time.

**Author's Note:**

> You might think to yourself lol why is this so cringy, so sorry for that, I'm still learning too xD So, feedback is highly appreciated! Thank you for reading


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